Several studies show that brazilians support the democratic regime per se, but, at the same time, reveal a widespread and persistent mistrust of democratic institutions. The author begins presenting the foundations of the contradictory coexistence of both phenomena and after that he reviews the treatment given by literature on political trust and the factors related to it (as political legitimacy and economic performance of governments), pointing limits. He also proposes that trust in institutions is rooted on the evaluation citizens make, based on their experience, about the way institutions perform the mission for which they were created.
democratic institutions; political trust; experience; citizens